Boston makes latest cut in Amazon HQ sweepstakes

BOSTON — There were 26 locations in Massachusetts vying to be the home of Amazon’s second headquarters but only one, perhaps the obvious one, made it onto the internet giant’s shortlist: Boston.

Amazon on Thursday announced that it had selected 20 cities — out of 238 proposals in all — that will advance to the next step in the company’s process of finding a home to complement its existing base in Seattle.

“Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough,” Amazon tweeted Thursday morning. “All the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity.”

Other cities or regions named to the shortlist include New York City, Denver, Pittsburgh, Toronto, northern Virginia, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Nashville and Los Angeles. Boston was the only New England city to make the shortlist.

Amazon said it evaluated each proposal based on the criteria it laid out when it asked for proposals.

In October, Massachusetts state officials sent one bid to Amazon, touting the state as a whole and highlighting its “unparalleled constellation of 125 colleges and universities” and the workforce those institutions can provide.

The state had deferred to local officials to promote and submit their own plans but the state-backed bid document contemplated the Amazon headquarters being located anywhere from old mill sites in Lee to downtown Worcester to Suffolk Downs.

Amazon said Thursday it now plans to “dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information as necessary, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate our hiring plans as well as benefit our employees and the local community.”

A final decision is expected in 2018.

If a Bay State locale is selected for the Seattle company’s second headquarters, it could bring transformative economic development. The company said it expects the second headquarters will employ as many as 50,000 people with “high-paying jobs,” and invest $5 billion in construction.